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North Shore’s Innovative Students - Teenpreneaurs continued...NAME: Dylan Pathirana AGE/YEAR:15 years old, Year 10 SCHOOL: Knox Grammar School“... Go into business trying to make a positive change ...”HOW HAVE YOUR EXPERIENCES AT SCHOOL HELPED YOU?I love Knox Grammar School,you get to meet new people and make lifelong friendships. Along with my good mate James Taylor, we do Industrial Technology and love to build things. We builtour first project, a wine rack, together, then someone told us it was really nice and they would love to have one. So we knew it was a viable business idea.TELL US MORE ABOUT YOUR $20 BOSS PROJECT?I created a company called Thinking Outside The Pallet (TOTP) with my mate James Taylor. We collect wooden pallets from industrial parks, take them back to our workshop and create unique pieces of furniture. The idea came from my dad who runs a warehousing business and he receives heaps of pallets. As soon as he heard about the project, he suggested creating things using them.WHERE HAS YOUR MOTIVATION COME FROM?I love hands-on work and I love creating things, so most of my motivation has been a creative drive to build new products. I also push myself, I don’t want the effort to go to waste.WHAT MINDSETS HAVE HELPED YOUR SUCCESS AND TO CONQUER DOUBT/FEAR?I think having a growth mindset has really helped as it has allowed me to take risks which has ultimately led to the successof the business.WHO DO YOU ADMIRE? E.G. FRIENDS, FAMILY, CELEBRITIES? My dad has been the person who has really guided me and has inspired me to pursue the idea. He is a business man him- self and he was able to give me so many invaluable tips.WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF AFTER SCHOOL?Well, I love hands on work so I am hoping to pursue a careerin engineering. I believe the skills taught from the $20 Boss program are essential life skills which will help in any career.WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR OTHER STUDENTS THINKING OF BECOMING ENTREPRENEURS?Make sure you find something that you are passionate about. This will make it so much easier to keep going with your business and ensure it doesn’t just fade away. Another thing is, don’t go into business for the money. Go into business trying to make a positive change, for people orfor the planet. If you do this the money will come.38 LIVING LOCAL SPRING 2016“Dream, Inspire, Grow”www.livinglocalguide.com.au